The iPhone 8's glass back is surprisingly tough, but it's still worth getting a case

Apple The glass backs on Apple's new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus remind me of my iPhone 4 that I bought in 2010.

For the record, my iPhone 4's glass back cracked, despite the fact that it was in a case pretty much the entire time I owned it.

Naturally, I was curious to see how well the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus' glass backs would handle drops. After all, Apple claims the glass on both the front and backs of the new iPhone 8 phones are the "most durable ever." Indeed, I certainly hope they're stronger than the glass on my iPhone 4.

We don't want to perform drop tests on our own iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review units, so we let YouTubers do it for us.

Here's how the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus' glass backs fared against several drop tests:

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EverythingApplePro dropped the iPhone 8 Plus from a fairly typical "pocket height" on the phone's back, sides, and front.

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The iPhone 8 Plus front and back glass survived all the pocket-height drops.

YouTube/EverythingApplePro

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Next up, EverythingApplePro dropped the iPhone 8 Plus from head height.

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The head height drop was fatal, at least for the iPhone 8 Plus' glass back.

YouTube/EverythingApplePro

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It's a stark contrast against previous iPhones, like the iPhone 7 Plus that went through the same tests and has a metal back.

YouTube/EverythingApplePro

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EverythingApplePro also dropped the iPhone 8 Plus on its front from head height, and the screen didn't crack, but the metal bottom edge became slightly deformed.

YouTube/EverythingApplePro

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Next up, YouTuber JerryRigEverything dropped the iPhone 8 from his knees from a sitting position.

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And the iPhone 8's back didn't crack.

YouTube/JerryRigEverything

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Now, from waist height.

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And the iPhone 8's glass back still survived, much like the iPhone 8 Plus did on EverythingApplePro's "pocket height" drop test.

YouTube/JerryRigEverything

Zack from the JerryRigEverything YouTube channel performed a second drop test from waist height and found that the iPhone 8's glass still didn't break. It's looking pretty good for the iPhone 8's glass back so far.

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Dropping the iPhone 8 a third time on its side finally cracked the iPhone 8's screen, but not its back.

YouTube/JerryRigEverything

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A fourth drop from about head height onto the iPhone 8's back cracked the iPhone 8's glass back.

YouTube/JerryRigEverything

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And finally, tech YouTube channel PhoneBuff dropped both the iPhone 8 and Galaxy Note 8 on their backs.

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And the glass backs on both phones cracked.

YouTube/PhoneBuff

The drop's height isn't clear from PhoneBuff's video, but it looks like it could be between three and four feet, which is similar to a waist-level height.

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From the drop tests, it looks like the iPhone 8's glass back could potentially survive a waist-level drop, but I'd still recommend using a case.

The iPhone 8's glass back survived two of the YouTubers' waist-level drop tests, but it cracked on PhoneBuff's test. That means the iPhone 8's glass back has the potential to crack from a waist-level drop, and you're better off getting a case to prevent cracking the iPhone's 8 glass back.

As you'd expect, the iPhone 8's glass back isn't as durable as the metal back on the iPhone 7. Still, you were better off using a case with the iPhone 7 to protect its screen from a drop.

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As for the iPhone 8's screen, it's pretty similar to the glass back, as it can crack from about waist height no matter what angle it drops.

The iPhone 8's front screen can also crack from a waist-level drop, so it's worth getting a case to protect to protect the screen in the first place.